Apparatus for processing packaged products



Dec. 13, 1949 H. L. SMITH, JR 2,491,421

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING PACKAGED PRODUCTS Filed Oct. 1, 1945 2Sheets-Sheet 1 31110421114301, Horace :L Sm ith, Jn,

Dec. 13, 1949 H. L. SMITH, JR

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING PACKAGED PRODUCTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 jvwewvm, Harace L. Suzi th, J1;

Filed Oct. 1, 1945 Patented Dec. 13, 1949 PRODUCTS K Horace" L: Smith, J5.; "Richmond, Va., assignor'to Chain Belt Company; Milwaukeel' wis acorporation of Wisconsin 1 I mitten otetei i, 1945, 619,6 36

The invention relates to apparatus for processing packaged products, andmore especially to machines for heating and/or cooling materials, such"for example as foods, contained in sealed cans ,or Similar containers.Prior U. S. Patent 5 No. 2,348,440 granted May 9, 1944, on an applica'tion filed. by Horace L. Smith, 'Jr., and Weld E. Conley; 'Jr.;discloses a machine of this general character, and'i'for purposes ofdisclosure: the present 'inventionhas been illustrated and will'lo bedescribed as applied to such a machine, although. as will appear morefully below, the inventionfis in no. wise'dependent upon many of thespecific features of thatmachine; V 1

Briefly, theapparatusof the aforesaid patentglt comprises among otherthings'a series of power driven'can-supporting rolls disposed, within atank or vat in spacedparallel relationship to pro vide valleys betweenadjacent. rolls, and partly or whollysubmerg'ed in a flowing. heat'exchange20 medium such as water. Appropriately timed feeding mechanismsupplies a batch of longitudinally alined sealed cans containing thematerial to be processed to the valley between the, firstan'd secondrolls of the series, where they are rotated by such rolls while beingsubjected'to the; heating or cooling action .of the heat exchangemedium. After a determined interval the batchis transferred from thefirst valley'tfo ,the next adjacent one, and substantiallysimultaneouslyjgn therewith a fresh batch is supplied to' thefirs'tvalley by the feeding mechanism. This .cycle is repeated continuously,and-when the cans reach, the last valley. they are transferred to aconveyer. or other suitable. dischargedevice with the.tem-... peratureof their contents raised or lowered to the desireddegree. .i

The present invention relates more .particularly, to the meansfortransferring. the containers from. valley to valley, and has for itsprincipal object. the provision of an improved mechanism which will notonly effect such transfer, but which also .adapted to direct theflowingheatv exchange medium against. the surfaces of the rotating ,cans,whereby the efficiency of theheat transfer will be materially increased.

With this and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription, proceeds, the invention resides in the novel details ofconstruction and in thenovel combinations and arrangements of, vparts,.'more .fully hereinafter disclosed. and. particularlypointedoutin the .appended.claims..,

In the accompanying drawings forminga part of thisspecification:....

Figure 1 is a fragmentary planview of the feed 7 Claims; (Cl. 99 364)end of a processingrnachine.ofthe character I closeddn the; said; priorPatent No. 2,348,440, equipped with one form of can transfer mecha I,

nism" constructed and arranged in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged partial cross 22 of- Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of the arrowsyj Fig, '3 is, a. fragmentary side elevationalview,. partly in section on various .planes, looking froml the leftpfFig; 2, the parts being shown in 'thefipo-f sitions occupied between thetransfer operations} "L Fig'. '4 is avie w similar to Fig.3, showing.the

' patent, the machines may be constructed witha pluralityof superposedtanks, or decks, of. which one maybe used for heating and. the otherforcooling,'ior.if necessary or desired, both may beemployedfon'either-heating or cooling, the trans-.- fer mechanismisthesame in each instance, and

the present description will be confined to a single deck.

The can-supporting rolls ID are disposed. in horizontal parallel.spacedv relation in the vat or.

tank I I with theiraxes extending transversely thereof,.,.and with theirshafts, or trunnions. l2

journalled..-in, self-ali-ning bearings. [3. Power from any. appropriatesource (not shown) is sup- I pliedto one. of thetrunnions of,forexample, the Y thi1'd.;-r,o1l.of.-theseries, by a chain, and sprocketdrive, l4, and at. one. side of the tankthe 13111111, nions'oftheinddnumbered rolls of the series are interconnected by chain-and; sprocket Idrives l5, whereby such rolls may. be simultaneously rotated T in thesamedirectiona The even-numberedrolls of theser-iesgare driven in likemanner by. similar drives located at the opposite side of the tank.

The cans are:introducedintothe tank ahead of the first-roll inend-to-end alinedrelationship, by a feeding conveyor l6, which hasassociatedrwith it acangripping mechanism. I! whichis inter; mittentlyoperablein timed relation to the other functions of,the machine to stopthe line of cans" on theconveyer-when a predetermined number-of cans hasbeenadvanced topositlon fortransferj to the rolls. H l.,. Suchtransferfrom the conveyer I6 to the valley between the first and second rolls..-

of the series is then effected .by a reciprocatablel feed bar 18 which'is advanced and retracted f sectional view,.'. on approximately theplane indicated bythe line,

view of a portion of the parts devices are disposed in the tank forsubmergence in the liquid heat exchange medium.

In addition to journalling the roll trunnions l2, each bearing sleeve [3also journals a transfer arm 20, which arms extend angularly upward. Theseveral arms at each side of the machine are all pivotally connected attheir upper ends to a longitudinally extending draw bar 2!, which barsare intermittently reciprocated by power mechanism, not here shown. Thefeed bar is also preferablyhas connections22 (Fig. 1) with the said drawbars 2!, whereby the feed bar may be actuated simultaneously with thetransfer members about to be described.

Thetransfer arms 20 are here shown as of a bifurcated construction, andthe inner hub portion 23 of each arm is provided with an arcuateextension 24 of approximately 90 in extent which, as will be especiallyclear from Figs. 2 and 5, is angularly disposed or offset laterallyinward whereby to partially surround the end portion of its associatedroll it. The peripheral faces of these extensions are substantiallyconcentric with the peripheries of the rolls, and to these faces of eachtransverse pair of arm extensions there is secured, as by screws 25, atransfer member 26 or bar of arcuate cross section; As will be clearfrom Fig. 3, in the normal position of the parts the upper edges of themembers 26 are disposed just below the peripheral surfaces of the linesof cans occupying the valleys of the roll series; but when the transfermechanism is operated to reciprocate the draw bars 2! and therebyoscillate the arms 20, as the latter swing in a clockwise direction (asviewed in said figure) these upper edges of the transfer bars willengage the cans to lift and shift them over the rolls, into the nextvalley.

This transfer action is substantially the same as that in the said priorpatent, but it will be noted that in this instance the transfer bars 26are substantially spaced from the roll peripheries, thus providingarcuate channels 21 opening directly below the lines of cans, throughwhich the flowing heat exchange medium may freely pass to such cansurfaces. It will also be noted that the extensions 24 close the sidesof the passages 21. Since in the normal (Fig. 3) position the lowerportions of the arcuate transfer bars 26 just clear the tank bottom, thesaid bars in effect act as bafiles to the flowing medium, causing it totake the tortuous course indicated by the arrows 28, passing around therolls and upwardly through the channels 27 from which it impingesdirectly against the peripheral surfaces of the cans 29. Thisappreciably increases the rate of heat exchange between the medium andthe can contents, and the side members or arm extensions 24 have beenfound to further raise the efliciency of the apparatus by preventingescape or shortcircuiting of the medium around the ends of the rolls.

A guide rail 30, supported by brackets 3|, is provided adjacent each endof the rolls for preventing endwise movement of the lines of cans in thevalleys and during transfer from valley to valley.

What is claimed is:

1. In heat exchange apparatus for processing materials in sealedcontainers, a tank for containing a flowing heat exchange mediumj aplurality of spaced parallel rolls mounted in said tank, providingvalleys between adjacent rolls for the reception of the containers;means for transferring the containers from valley to valley, comprisinga transfer bar disposed in parallel substantially spaced relation toeach roll to provide a free pas sage for the heat exchange mediumbetween the two, said passages opening into the respective valleys andsaid bars being formed and disposed to deflect the flowing mediumthrough the passages and against the surfaces of containers disposed insuch valleys; and means for moving the transfer bars into and out of thevalleys to effect progressive transfer of the containers from valley tovalley. 7

2. In heat exchange apparatus for processing materials in sealedcontainers, a tank for containing a flowing heat exchange medium; aplurality of spaced parallel rolls mounted in said tank for supportingthe containers in the valleys between adjacent rolls; means fortransferring the containers from valley to valley, comprising a transferbar of curved cross section partially surrounding and substantiallyparalleling the periphery of each roll throughout its length incompletely spaced relation thereto and providing an unobstructed passagefor the heat exchange medium, said passages opening into the respectivevalleys whereby the flowing medium may be directed against the surfacesof containers disposed in such valleys; and means for oscillating thetransfer bars into and out of the valleys to effect progressive transferof the containers from valley to valley.

3. In heat exchange apparatus for processing materials in sealedcontainers, a tank for containing a flowing heat exchange medium; aplurality of spaced parallel rolls mounted in said tank for supportingthe containers in the valleys between adjacent rolls, the peripheries ofsaid rolls being spaced from the bottom of the tank whereby the mediummay flow under them; means for transferring the containers from valleyto valley, comprising a transfer bar paralleling each roll in spacedrelation thereto whereby to provide a free passage between the two, saidbars extending upwardly from proximity to the tank bottom toward thevalleys between adjacent rolls whereby they may baflle the mediumflowing beneath the rolls and direct it through said passages andagainst the surfaces of containers disposed in said valleys; and meansfor moving the transfer bars into and out of the valleys to effectprogressive transfer of the containers from valley to valley.

4. In heat exchange apparatus for processing materials in sealedcontainers, a tank for containing a flowing heat exchange medium; aplurality of spaced parallel rolls mounted in said tank for supportingthe containers in the valleys between adjacent rolls, the peripheries ofsaid rolls being spaced from the bottom of the tank whereby the mediummay flow beneath them; means for transferring the containers from valleyto valley comprising a transfer bar of substantially arcuate crosssection partially surrounding each roll throughout its length incompletely spaced relation to the periphery of such roll, said barsextending from the tank bottom upwardly toward the valleys betweenadjacent rolls whereby they may bafile themedium flowing beneath therolls and direct it into the valleys against the surfaces ofcontainersdisposed therein; and means for oscillating the transfer barsinto and out of the valleys to efiectprogressive transfer of thecontainers from valley to valley.

5. A transfer element for heat exchange apparatus having acan-supporting roll, comprising a pair of spaced arms mountable foroscillation relative to such roll; and a transfer bar carried by saidarms for disposition substantially parallel to the axis of the roll andin substantial completely spaced relation to the periphery thereof,whereby to provide a channel between the two for free passage of a heatexchange medium and said bar being shaped to deflect said medium throughsaid channel.

6. A transfer element for heat exchange apparatus having acan-supporting roll, comprising a pair of spaced arms mountable foroscillation about the axis of such roll; and a transfer bar of curvedcross section carried by said arms for disposition in concentricsubstantial spaced relation to the periphery of the roll, whereby toprovide a channel for free passage of a. heat exchange medium.

7. A transfer element for heat exchange apparatus having acan-supporting roll, comprising a pair of spaced arms mountable adjacentthe ends of such roll for oscillation about its axis, said arms eachhaving an arcuate extension; and a transfer bar of arcuate cross sectioncarried by said extensions for disposition in substantial spacedrelation to the periphery of the roll, whereby to provide a channelbetween the two for conducting a heat exchange medium to the surfaces ofcans supported by the roll.

HORACE L. SMITH, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

